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‘Too much pressure’: mixed reaction to China’s new 3-child policy

  • Beijing has relaxed its family planning rules, but researchers aren’t optimistic that young Chinese will want to have more kids
  • The cost of raising children may deter some couples, but for others the news is cause for celebration

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China has scrapped its two-child policy and couples can now have three children. Photo: EPA-EFE
Jane Cai,Guo Rui,Amber WangandLaura Zhou
China is hoping a major policy shift allowing couples to have up to three children – scrapping a two-child limit – will help tackle the problem of its ageing population. But researchers are not optimistic young Chinese will be convinced to have more children, largely due to the cost of raising them.
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An online survey conducted soon after the change was announced on Monday suggests it could be a hard sell: 90 per cent of respondents said they “would not consider” having three children.

State news agency Xinhua polled 31,000 people, finding just 1,443 of them were “ready” to have a third child, it was “on the agenda” for 213, while 828 were “hesitant”.

The poll results disappeared not long after they were posted.

02:04

China expands two-child policy to three

China expands two-child policy to three

While an online survey provides a limited picture of public opinion, a report by demographers at Renmin University of China backs up that sentiment. They estimated that the policy would lead to an annual increase of 200,000 to 300,000 births in the next five years – slightly up from the rate of 12 million births last year.

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